Sam Houston State Downs the Mean Green in a Big Way

Remember the night of Nov. 16th, when I said that the Bearkats had just given their most complete performance in defeating Colorado State, 92-81?

They played a more complete game on Wednesday night against North Texas, as the Bearkats rolled to a 92-74 victory.

You really don't have to even look beyond the box score to see how the Kats were so successful.

As a team, they shot 53.1 percent from the field, including 61.3 percent in the second half and 40 percent from beyond the three-point line.

On the defensive side, they held North Texas to 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent shooting from behind the arc.

Most importantly, the Bearkats held the Mean Green's leading scorer Tristan Thompson to seven points on 1-8 shooting. Guard Josh White managed 14 points, but it came on 5-13 shooting.

The Bearkats were lead on both ends by Josten Crow: He poured in an efficient 24 points, 10 assists and five rebounds; he was also the unfortunate Bearkat chosen to try and hold Tristan Thompson. Given Thompson's shooting woes, I'd say Crow succeeded.

Gilberto Clavell played the rare role of second fiddle in putting up 17 points on 7-11 shooting, giving him one of his more efficient performances.

Going into the game, you knew that the Bearkats would need a couple of players to step their games up and Marcus Williams and Nafis Richardson did just that.

Williams had 15 points and eight assists and went three for four on his three-point attempts. He did a great job of hitting the open jumper when the Mean Green collapsed into the post to double Clavell.

Richardson had his best game of the season with 14 points. No points were bigger than the two he got on a rim-rattling dunk late in the game that served as the nail in the coffin.

The game ended up looking like a blowout, but it was anything but for much of the game. The Mean Green weathered the Bearkats hot shooting by pounding the ball inside and forcing the action.

Forward Kedrick Hogans led the Mean Green with 19 points. Life was easy for him as he made eight of his nine shots on the night.

The Mean Green also managed to shoot 32 free throws thanks to their persistence in the post. When the got free throws, they made them count by sinking 75 percent of them.

This game, coupled with the Colorado State game from November, answer questions about just how good the Bearkats can be. If they play like they did on these two nights, they can beat any team on their schedule.

For now, though, the Bearkats will just be looking to beat the next team on their schedule.

In this case, that team is the Cleveland State Vikings, who won't make things any easier.

Last season, they wiped the floor with the Bearkats. The Bearkats will hope that revenge will taste sweet come Saturday afternoon.